Translated : Seoul and Suwon! Let’s play to win!

서울과수원, 이기기위한축구합시다

Seoul and Suwon! Let’s play to win!

2018년 4월 9일 10:33 오전

*Disclaimer – This is a translation of an article published by a Korean journalist and we have not fact-checked the veracity of the claims made in the article. We accept no responsibility for any claims made. The translation was not undertaken by a qualified translator and therefore we accept no responsibility for for any differences between the original and the translation*

더비 매치에 거는 기대감이라는 게 있습니다 There is a certain level of expectation about a derby. ⓒ FC서울 FC Seoul

The weekend is over and it’s Monday. One of the characteristics of my job is that I don’t get the Monday blues. Are you envious? Well, that’s because I don’t really have days off. So don’t be too angry.

That short introductory sentence was loaded with provocation and excuses. Kind of like last weekend’s (April 8th) Supermatch. Well, maybe the two teams got exactly what they wanted. That’s because at least neither of them lost. That was outstanding formulation and implementation of tactics from two of the leading teams in the league.

No. Readers might feel that the previous sentence was a bit snippy but I’m fully aware of the troubles both teams have these days. Suwon are using a lot of energy playing in the AFC Champions League. It’s not easy to maintain your biorhythms when you have to play both day and night matches. Team captain Kim Eun-sun was injured twice in March alone and was missing from the teamsheet. Seo himself commented on the injury problems caused by the teams busy fixture list.

“To be honest, the fixture list has had a huge impact. It’s a sad situation so the team is having a tough time, fatigue is building up, injuries are piling up and we can’t avoid squad rotation. And that’s for a watch that would be difficult to win even player our strongest eleven. All we can do is try to minimize the risk.”

Those words show Seo’s stress. Actually, Seo is generally a straight-talker. He explains his points one by one in a patient way. But on this day, listening to him speak I felt something was off. He was very guarded and I felt that he couldn’t fully convey what was on his mind.

FC Seoul is having a tough time of it these days. The club is clamouring on about rebuilding with Hwang moulding the team into his own style. As part of that the majority of fan favourite players have left the team leaving only Park Chuyoung and Go Yohan. There are whiaspers that the squad is now lightweight. At the pre-match press conference Hwang said, “why wouldn’t we be considered as league contenders? It hurts me to hear that.” However, some of the concerns that people had about Seoul are certainly coming true. Firstly they need to get that first win but what if they had lost to their biggest rivals instead. In that case the teams plans would have just gone up in smoke.

Shin Kwang-hoon and Shin Jinho should be familiar with Hwang’s footballing philosophy but what about the other players? After managing Seoul for a season and a half he’s finally had the chance to make a team with his own players playing his style of football. He’s basically overhauled the team so apart from the defence the majority of the team are wearing an unfamiliar uniform. Add to that that Go Yohan, Kim Sungjoon and Cho Youngwook missed pre-season training through being on international duty combined with injuries to the foreign players and it is well known that Seoul’s preparations for the season didn’t go too well.

In any case, I reckon that Seoul will be the team that’s feeling the most pressure about getting a win under their belts. If Seo looked like he’s feeling stressed then Hwang looked like a man under pressure. Hwang was bullish as he talked up his team’s chances saying, “We’re in a tricky situation. But does it have any meaning that we’re undefeated (in league matches against Suwon under Hwang). We’re focusing on the game and we’re putting everything in to it. It’ll be important to how well both teams manage to keep their cool. Also how well they prepare to deal with the pressure situations.” That’s the same as saying that both teams are feeling the pressure to win.

And so the stupormatch, sorry, I mean Supermatch took place. It finished as a 0-0 draw. Anyone that watched it will know that it was an absolute snooze-fest. It seemed like that in order to release some of the pressure to win both teams ended up playing so as not to lose. Both teams put in a shift in defence. But by focusing on defence they didn’t have time to attack. Rather than passing the ball forward they spent more time just passing the ball back and forth along the defensive line. The front players were left to waiting for the ball to come in their direction. Because they couldn’t dominate the middle of the park they tried attacking down the wings but wayward passing by the wide players saw possession conceded time and time again. What was surprising was that it was the same from both teams.

And finally there were three short, sharp blasts on the whistle. Everyone in the ground was left bewildered; the supporters behind the goal, the players, the coaches and the press. It was like they were screaming inside. ‘how was this a Supermatch?’ The players and managers offered an apologetic bow to the fans and you could occasional long sighs among the press who were typing up their match reports. The number of paying punters for the Kleague’s blue ribbon event, its box office hit, its blockbuster was just 13,122. If you just consider the pace of the game it was actually good that this was the lowest ever crowd for a Supermatch. If more fans had witnessed this abomination, there might have been trouble.

Sitting in the post-match press conference and listening to the two managers blame each other for being overly defensive my bewilderment multiplied. As by shock reached critical levels my mind spaced out and I stopped trying to compute what I just seen. And as I tried to contain my emotions I suddenly thought ‘sometimes matches are like this.’ And I commented that not every match can be a classic. Kim Hyunhee, who was sitting next to me retorted, “That wasn’t football.”

Then what is football? The night before there was a match in faraway Manchester between two teams that tore each other part, saying “I can’t stand to see you win.” Man Utd were overrun 2-0 in the first 45 minutes but came back to win 3-2 in the second half. Clearly anyone that watched that match will have expected something similar from the Suwon-Seoul game. Then is it goals that are important? Or was the change in tactics by Man U in the second half that was important? Is that what football is all about?

Yoo Sang-chul, manager of the Jeonnam Dragons, can give us a hint. Playing away at Incheon were driven almost into the jaws of defeat but rescued a precious point due to Choi Jae-hyun’s late equalizer. After the match Yoo said ‘This felt as good as a win. I think that’s what football is all about.” It was a dire situation for Jeonnam. They were away from home and they’d lost Hwang Chan-hee to a red card. From that point on, Incheon had attacked the Jeonnam goal relentlessly. Jeonnam held out at 1-1 until the 90th minute before Mugosa popped up to score what everyone thought would be the winning goal for Incheon. But ta-da! Never say never. As soon as the referee blew the whistle for the restart Jeonnam raced forward to attack the Incheon goal. Jugovic buzzed about pressuring the opposition keeper giving Lee Seul-chan to pop off a shot from the edge of the area which hit the framework and dropped straight to Choi Jae-hyun to knock in. Barely 5 minutes had passed.

Football gives a point apiece when there is no winner. Should we be grateful for that? There are teams that are immensely grateful for each and every point. That is particularly true in the K2. It’s true that if one of their key players gets injured it is much more difficult for them to go after the full three points and until he returns from injury they will aim for just one point from each game. That might even be why Seoul Eland or Anyang struggle to get points. They have one goal scorer and one playmaker each and if either of them is injured it’s hard to reap anything from the game.

인천, 전남에는있었고수원, 서울에는없었던모습– Something that was present in the Incheon-Jeonnam game but absent from Suwon-Seoul

Let’s return to the K1. Jeonnam tried their best not to lose. As a team that never keeps a clean sheet they have lots of defensive worries. So they used a back three against Incheon. Once Hwang was sent off, it was true that Jeonnam couldn’t afford to attack. But the Incheon-Jeonnam game was entertaining. What was different in the Suwon-Seoul game?

My opinion might not be right but I think the difference was as thin as a sheet of paper. Suwon and Seoul’s mindsets were focused on not losing rather than trying to win. It’s not a big difference but when it comes to winning it can have a huge impact. In the Incheon-Jeonnam game both teams were attacking so as not to lose; whereas in the Suwon-Seoul game both teams were defending so as not to lose. Of course it’s true that in the second half both teams showed some will to attack. It might even have been their winning strategy. But to the average spectator it looked like their intention was to avoid defeat rather than go for victory.

There is absolutely no reason that the managers of two of the leading clubs in the league should not know that difference. Also, both managers have experienced how bad results can occur when you become obsessed with winning during a losing streak. In trying to relieve pressure on the players, there is a big chance that it had the opposite effect. Seeing the disappointment of the fans every time they fail to win will also have had some effect on the players. To play for Suwon or Seoul means that you are already recognized as players of skill and ability. Therefore we can only hypothesize that the problems was either that the managers were too cautious or that the pressure on the players was much greater than anticipated.

I know that both Seo and Hwang try to promote their ideal style of football. Seo promotes dynamic football by increasing the amount of action based upon analysis of data. Waguninho, Lim Sanghyub and Lee Kijae are players that show Seo’s desires. Hwang prefers pace and dominating the midfield. He also expects to see destructive power down the wings. But sometimes you have to compromise between your ideal football and reality. Kim Byungsoo, who managed Seoul Eland last season, confessed that he only started to get results when he learned to compromise. There are times too when Suwon and Seoul need to compromise. They need to put aside their preferred style of play and just go for it with “better to lose trying” philosophy. For me, a derby should have aggressive attacking to be entertaining.

The boards at both Suwon and Seoul also need to do more to support their managers. For example, Seoul fans have started expressing their disappointment with the club as well as Hwang. They try and emulate Gyeongnam who are producing good results on a shoestring budget through some good scouting. They should try and learn from Gangwon who, even though it will be really tough, have made it their ambition to get into the ACL. The oppressive atmosphere in the post-match press conference must surely be a warning to the Kleague. The two managers and the players must also have felt it. This was a match that I wanted to escape from, never mind about the players. Both teams don’t even have time to pick up the pieces before their matches this Wednesday.* Wherever it is, I hope they will play to win. That’s what I’m anticipating from Suwon and Seoul’s football. I will watch with baited breath this Wednesday to see what changes there are.

intaekd@sports-g.com

*(Translator’s note: Seoul beat Pohang 2-1 and Suwon grabbed a last minute winner in a 3-2 victory at Gangwon.)